Some of L.A.’s finest restaurants are putting the happy back in happy hour with sophisticated menus of appetizers, sandwiches – even desserts – for drop-in, no-reservations, just-after-work dining. Hours and setups vary, but most offer a special menu of low-priced small-plate selections – the same-quality food that’s on the menu at higher prices a few hours later – and some drink specials.
Trends
Gum to beat bad breath the next functional food fad Gum to beat bad breath the next functional food fad
– 01/04/2004 – Is Big Red the next functional food fad? Scientists in the US claim the natural flavours found in the chewing gum brand manufactured by gum giant Wrigley’s could beat the bacteria that causes bad breath.
Their findings suggest a new inroad for the food industry into the growing functional food fad as well as a challenge to the dominant probiotic dairy products market in Europe, currently worth around €1billion. [Read more…] about Gum to beat bad breath the next functional food fad
Gum to beat bad breath the next functional food fad
Revitalizing Drinks Are Also Pepping Up Sales
VODKA mixers. Hangover remedies. Serious jolts of caffeine. However they are used, so-called energy drinks have quickly become the elixirs of choice for teenagers nagers and young adults too hip for espressos, colas and fancy teas.
The drinks – which consist mostly of sugar, water and caffeine, but also a variety of vitamins, herbs and supposedly energy-enhancing extracts – have overtaken bottled water as the fastest-growing segment of the beverage industry. Beverage companies are rushing into this $1 billion market to grab share from Red Bull, the pioneer in the field, whose drinks went on sale in the United States seven years ago. And they need no other lure than young consumers’ willingness to buy 8-ounce cans of energy drinks for at least two times the cost of a 12-ounce cola. [Read more…] about Revitalizing Drinks Are Also Pepping Up Sales
What He Ate: A Food Diary From New York
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/31/dining/31YEAR.html
TUCKER SHAW, 35, is a writer who grew up in Denver and went away to Maine for college and moved to New York in 1991 for the reasons people do. Since Jan. 1, he has photographed everything he has eaten.
He has taken more than 600 photographs so far, in restaurants, in the kitchens of friends, on street corners and in the dim light of his own home at 11 at night, when he often has a final bowl of cereal before bed. Taken as a package, and looked at in order, the pictures are dizzying in their effect. They could be postcards from a Martian, lost on Earth and struggling to give order to his experience.
“It’s amazing to me how much food there is in New York,” Mr. Shaw said last week. “It’s like we’re eating in Rome, before the fall.”
Healthy Lifestyles (Part II)
Three groups are playing crucial roles in shaping the discussion of healthy lifestyles: consumers, the food industry and the government. These forces are among the issues examined in this second installment of the National Restaurant Association Special Report.
read the full report [Read more…] about Healthy Lifestyles (Part II)
National Restaurant Association SmartBrief's Special Report
Nutrition and healthy lifestyles are among the most pressing issues facing the restaurant industry today and have sparked public debate over where responsibility for healthy lifestyles rests. This National Restaurant Association Special Report provides resources restaurant operators can use to understand all sides of the question and make decisions that best serve their customers.
Read the full brief [Read more…] about National Restaurant Association SmartBrief's Special Report
Small things about to hit the big time
Small is big. A nation that until now has been hung up on extra-large SUVs, McMansions and supersized meals is flip-flopping to the other extreme: all things small.
A caterer is offering new Bitty Burgers at ballparks.
The trend goes way beyond food – to cars, computers, condos, cell phones, cameras and more.
“There’s an ‘excess’ fatigue among consumers,” says consultant Pam Murtaugh. “We’ve all gotten too big for our britches.”
eggs profile higher in heart-healthy omega-3
Feed a chicken “a diet rich in algae, flax seed or fish oil” and — voila! — its eggs profile higher in heart-healthy omega-3s, as reported by Katy McLaughin in The Wall Street Journal. Give that chicken some marigold extract and — presto! — its eggs boast higher levels of lutein, “a nutrient that is good for eye health.” [Read more…] about eggs profile higher in heart-healthy omega-3